While interviewing Jerome Corsi, author of the recently released book The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality, MSNBC's Contessa Brewer cited a Media Matters report detailing what she said were "some eight, nine, 10 pages of factual errors" in the book, and asked Corsi: "[I]f they are finding one, then why do you get credibility for the book?"

On the August 5 edition of MSNBC Live, while interviewing Jerome Corsi, author of the recently released book The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality, anchor Contessa Brewer cited a Media Matters for Americareport detailing what she said were "some eight, nine, 10 pages of factual errors" in the book, and asked Corsi: "[I]f they are finding one, then why do you get credibility for the book?" Brewer also said, referring to Media Matters, "[I]f they are going through, and they are finding all of these factual errors in your book, why should we give you the credibility?"

During the interview, Brewer asked Corsi:

BREWER: You say it's a comprehensive look, and yet there are already online bloggers that are going through this book page by page and picking apart what they see as factual errors. Let me give you an example. You say in this book, "Interestingly, Obama did not dedicate Dreams from My Father to his mother or to his father, Barack Sr., or to his Indonesian stepfather," and Media Matters, the online organization, says in his book, he actually says on a -- on the last page of the introduction, "It is to my family, though, my mother, my grandparents, my siblings, stretched across oceans and continents that I owe the deepest gratitude and to whom I dedicated this book." So if they're going through, and they're finding all of these factual errors in your book, why should we give you the credibility?

In response, Corsi claimed, "If you'll read carefully what Media Matters said, they point out there is no dedication page even in the second edition." Corsi later added: "And the original book had no dedication page and this is not the typical way that you dedicate a book. So I'm making the distinction there is no dedication page in the book at all, never has been." In fact, as Brewer and Media Matters noted, Corsi drew no such distinction in Obama Nation; he falsely claimed only that "Obama did not dedicate Dreams from My Father to his mother, or to his father, Barack Senior, or to his Indonesian stepfather" and that also "[m]issing from the dedication are the grandparents who raised him in Hawaii."

Brewer also noted that Media Matters debunked Corsi's false claims that Obama's memoir does not mention his sister's birth and his work as a community organizer at City College of New York.

From the 9 a.m. ET hour of the August 5 edition of MSNBC Live:

BREWER: The man who helped lead the Swift Boat attacks on John Kerry is at it again. You may remember the string of ads and books that attacked the Democrat by questioning the legitimacy of his combat medals. Here is part of that.

[begin video clip]

GEORGE ELLIOT: I served with John Kerry.

AL FRENCH: I served with John Kerry.

ELLIOT: John Kerry has not been honest about what happened in Vietnam.

FRENCH: He is lying about his record.

[end video clip]

BREWER: Jerome Corsi wrote the bestseller, Unfit for Command, that came out at the same time, and now he's targeting Barack Obama with a new book, The Obama Nation. Jerome Corsi joins me now in the studio. It's good to see you today.

CORSI: Thank you, Contessa.

BREWER: All right, you say in your forward here that your main problem with Barack Obama is his policy positions. But, you know, I was reading the book -- and I'm going through the first good chunk of this book -- is about which house did he live in, in Indonesia. Well, that's not really the house that he seems to remember. Was he really praying at the Islamic prayer when he was a small boy? You don't get to policy issues until the last 100 pages, why not?

CORSI: Well, it's a very thorough examination of Barack Obama's life, his intellectual development, his life experiences, all as they affect policy. I mean, to give you an example. He was a Saul Alinsky organizer in Chicago. That's a very radical methodology that Barack Obama actually taught, and it involves redistribution of wealth, getting power to redistribute wealth. And that continues to be one of Barack Obama's main themes. Look, he wants to take the energy companies, have windfall profits go to thousand-dollar checks to the poor. What company is Barack Obama going to target next for their profits to distribute to the poor?

BREWER: You say it's a comprehensive look, and yet there are already online bloggers that are going through this book page by page and picking apart what they see as factual errors. Let me give you an example. You say in this book, "Interestingly, Obama did not dedicate Dreams from My Father to his mother or to his father, Barack Sr., or to his Indonesian stepfather," and Media Matters, the online organization, says in his book, he actually says on a -- on the last page of the introduction, "It is to my family, though, my mother, my grandparents, my siblings, stretched across oceans and continents that I owe the deepest gratitude and to whom I dedicated this book." So if they're going through, and they're finding all of these factual errors in your book, why should we give you the credibility?

CORSI: Let's discuss that one. If you'll read carefully what Media Matters said, they point out there is no dedication page even in the second edition.

BREWER: But it says right in the introduction that it's dedicated to his family.

CORSI: In the introduction that he wrote after, this was going with the second book. And the original book had no dedication page and this is not the typical way that you dedicate a book. So I'm making the distinction there is no dedication page in the book at all, never has been.

BREWER: And we're not going to do that. But I'm saying, if they are finding one, then why do you get credibility for the book?

CORSI: Well, I've already objected to the one they found. I think Media Matters is wrong, and I would argue with every one of them.

BREWER: You are arguing with the way that this is described but they're going through--

CORSI: I would -- I take exception--

BREWER: Obama's sister, Obama in City College of New York.

CORSI: Well, let's go through them one by one. I'd be happy to.

BREWER: Let me ask you, you say that you are not a partisan, that you're not a Democrat or a Republican, that you're not voting for either of the two major party candidates come the election. Is there a book in the works about John McCain?

CORSI: No, I'm not going to write a book about John McCain. I've written many critical articles of John McCain. If you'll research them, I'm a senior staff reporter on WorldNetDaily, and I've been very critical of John McCain for about four years. I also had no book planned against Hillary Clinton. It's the far-leftist Democrats that have been nominated -- John Kerry and now Barack Obama -- that drew my attention.

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MattGertz
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Matt Gertz is Research Director at Media Matters. He has written extensively on media coverage of the Benghazi attacks, gun violence, voting rights, LGBT issues, and elections, as well as on media ethics. He joined Media Matters in 2007 and holds a B.A. in political science from Columbia University.

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